Well its over

Well the 2014 whitetail deer season came to an end. None of us shot a deer this year, not from lack of opportunity but from lack of quality. We are not sure how many of the deer will make it through the winter but we can feel good that we left some quality young deer and never seen any of the mature deer we had on camera during daylight hours.

There is a strong rumour going out here that the only reason they never cancelled the season this year was because outfitters already had bookings confirmed when they understood the devastation from the severe winter, they also claim outfitters have been told not to book anything for the 2015 season..we will have to wait to see how that plays out. Worse case scenario we will put a lot more effort in duck and goose hunting next year.

Winter is well underway already this year again, last year we had temperatures in the -25 -30 range plus windchill. We had lots of deer and deer sign, there was a couple of inches of snow on the ground and lots of deer movement. This year it was cold right up to the weekend but never as cold as last year, Saturday it hit +3 and was damp. Sunday morning we woke up to -5 and ice fog, followed shortly by snow flurries and high winds. Needless to say, we never seen a deer all weekend, not even a bit of fresh sign.

It was easy to pack it in midday given the weather and lack of sign.

Monday will bring a new adventure, Andrea has been looking to replace the VW golf for a while, she finally decided on a Subaru Impreza WRX, we looked at few over the last few months and - we seen one Saturday at the Honda dealer where we bought our bikes this summer and although I almost got away with driving by, well not really I had to go back. There is now a hold for Andrea sign in the window...a 2011 with 33,000 Kmh.

all wheel drive and fun,should be good if she decides to go that route. I guess we will know soon.

One weekend Left in Whitetail Season

Well where to start LOL, I am not sure. Last weekend we went to camp for four glorious days, went up Friday night and hunted Saturday and Sunday for muzzle loader season, then Monday and Tuesday for center fire rifle season.

Saturday was a cold morning without much wind so I went to my "honey hole" stand for first light. I was there for about 90 minutes when this little fellow came out to play around in the hollow.

The picture actually makes him look a lot larger than he is, I doubt he would have field dressed a 100 lbs...but he spent 40 mins entertaining me that morning. Just after he left a large bodied deer ran through further up the hill through the heavy brush. Could not tell if it was a buck or doe but it was not hanging around to tell me.

Andrea never found a thing around her stand so we went in for brunch and a nap lol. Those 0500 wake ups are hard on the body lol. We went back out at 1430 and sure enough the young fellow came through again. Again Andrea's stand was a bust.

Sunday morning I was back in the "honey hole" and I had a treat as this fellow came to play around...

Even though he is a fork horn he is actually smaller than the spike above. Take note of the nice sunny weather and dry ground. Saturday evening the spike came back to see me. Still not convinced he was worth shooting, a .50 cal muzzle loader at 40 yds would put holes in him to large to leave him one piece. I had him back again Monday morning for the center fire opener, my new marlin 3030 with its Bushnell legend 2 X 7 X 32 had him all lined up and all I could do was count ribs. I am not sure there is enough there to bother with so again I passed.

Andrea had another opinion, she figured the deer was worth shooting based on the pictures, so, she has taken over my stand in the honey hole effective Monday afternoon. I moved to a stand on top of the hill above the honey hole. I have seen a lot of deer there and it is where I shot my deer last year. The issue with the stand is that it is no good in the predominate west winds. I was able to enjoy a nice evening in that stand Monday afternoon and hoped I would see another big deer cross in the brush between me and Andrea...sure enough we both seen it, no chance for either of us to get a shot though the heavy brush though. We went to bed that night with great intentions, the weather gods however had other ideas. We awoke Tuesday to bitter cold, high wind and of course this,

We walked around and not a track to be found, we decided to make a shooting lane down the fence line so that if the wind cooperated we could possibly get a shot at the big deer that has been ghosting the brush...

One of our water jugs had broke so we had to run to Baldur and get extra water Monday and come Tuesday with the bad weather and lots to do before work Wednesday we decide to call it a trip and headed home at lunch time.

Three days later we were back again, things are a little different now, the ground is covered in snow, the wind has a vicious bite and the temps are not reaching pleasant highs. We started Saturday morning the same way, Andrea went to the honey hole, she was going shoot the spike horn if it was foolish enough to show up.  It showed up, Andrea of course put her cross hairs on it, then she to started counting ribs...the spike horn entertained her for a bit and then departed.

Monday I tried another area on the property but I think that particular area is only used at night and I never seen a thing. Andrea never seen anything Saturday afternoon either, but we did find that it was nicer in the afternoon as it was only about -15 as opposed to -25 in the morning.

Sunday morning brought brutal wind chills and a damp NW wind, we went down to the honey hole and Andrea took the stand while I went a couple hundred yards east to the fence line. We sat out in the brutal wind for a couple of hours but decided that no deer worth shooting would be out in that crap. We called it a weekend.

We got out just in time, we hit the secondary road that is two miles east of camp and the snow was crazy. By the time we were to the secondary highway it was near whiteout, snow squalls driven by 70 Kmh winds were great fun as there times we had to drive 10 kmh just trying to see the road.

We will be back next weekend for the final try, not sure about the deer thing. A couple of guys told me they are all herding up already. I am not sure we will take anything but a decent bodied deer, there are enough on camera at night...

On another note, I know I mentioned the Winchester 7mm WSM I picked up last time I wrote, but I did not have it in hand...I received it and was quite surprised, I thought I had bought a basic M70 classic, I actually got a M70 ultimate shadow...

It is the most balanced easy handling bolt action rifle I have ever found, I can't wait until the weather cooperates to start load development.

Til next week...

Finally Hunting

Well we have had quite a couple of weeks. Not quite sure where to start, I have been busy playing with my gun collection but first let’s talk muzzle loaders. We bought muzzle loaders a few years ago but never actually used them so after my shoulder surgery and not being to hold my bow at draw we thought maybe we should try out the muzzle loading thing to extend our hunting season as rifle season is only two weeks and we have to shoot a buck with antlers more than 4 inches this year.

Last weekend we sighted in our muzzle loaders and learned how to use them. This weekend we hunted for the first time with the muzzle loaders. We never had an opportunity to take a shot but it was great to get out hunting again.

It was a hard week waiting to go back up but I have been suitably preoccupied with my rifle collection, additions and subtractions. I first decided to let go of my 308 – I bought the rifle last fall with the idea I might use it for a tree stand rifle and never even fired it. Gave up on the model 7 260 experiment and I ended up buying a Marlin 3030 as I have always loved a lever action bush rifle. 

I do have an affliction with highly accurate flat shooting stainless steel rifles as well. I do have a couple of blued rifles, a 243 carbine Noah is using, and of course the 3030. To replace the 308 I bought a Savage Weather Warrior in 270 WSM. I had a savage 270 WSM last year and foolishly let it go, it was a super accurate rifle and fun to shoot so I am hoping the stainless model with the improved stock will be even better.

The Savage 270 WSM

I have also been daydreaming about having a high quality rifle in the nearly extinct calibre of 7 mm WSM. I have had a thing for 7 mm Magnum rifles ever since I bought my own first center fire rifle, I have had many over the years (a disease I inherited from my father according to Mom) but not a 7 mm WSM – I love the idea of having the 7 mm Magnum performance in a short action non-belted cartridge. The idea that it is such a ballistic treat but yet not embraced is hard to comprehend. Many writers tend to blame it on the “American” effect – if it is named in a metric convention it will not sell, yet the standard 7mm Rem mag does quite well year after year. I think it has more to do with mass media, the writers that “know everything” and write like they do have much more influence than common sense or useful application. The idea that improving a cartridge from a belted long semi efficient cartridge case to a short un-belted cartridge case that is more efficient and equally useful.  A lot of words to say I found one I really like so I snagged it and sold my 708AI. The 708AI is a great rifle but is has largely been supplanted by my 260 Rem in a Tikka stainless Hunter that will literally shoot one hole groups with 120gr Nosler Ballistic Tip Hunting bullets. 

The Winchester Classic in 7mm WSM

The Winchester Classic in 7mm WSM

The Tikka T3

So enough about my toys, we went up to camp Friday night and arrived just after dark. It was quite cold and windy so we lit the fire and made supper. Up early and out for our first hunt of the year. It really seemed like we had gone a year without hunting as confusion reined but we got out there. I spooked three deer on my way in and we never saw another one that day or Sunday morning. The wind was very harsh, actually shaking the camp Friday night and remained high until after 5 pm Saturday.

Sunday morning brought cool crisp air, just a breathe of wind and nothing but squirrels and bluejays making a racket. Oh well next weekend we have four day weekend as Andrea and I both took Monday the 10th off and the 11th is a stat holiday for all three of us. It will give us an extra opportunity to try and get a shot at this guy...

or maybe

if we get really lucky then one of us will get a shot at this

Yes that is off our trail cams, all them are...til next time.